The Real defenders got sloppy, the midfielders looked disinterested and, without much service to speak of, the much-vaunted front trio failed to lead by example.

If Real believe that their BBC trident (Benzema, Bale and Cristiano) is the answer to Barcelona's MSN (Messi, Suarez and Neymar), then this awful display is evidence that they are nowhere close.

Gareth Bale was probably the only Real player to emerge with any real credit, providing several dangerous crosses and responsible for most of the threat his side offered.

Cristiano Ronaldo was way off his usual game, incapable of getting his bearings right and failing to score Real's best chance of the game.

At least Karim Benzema had his misery cut short in the 41st minute, when he was substituted because of an injury.

Holding midfielder Casemiro, the hero against Barcelona, gave away the soft penalty from which Ricardo Rodriguez converted for the hosts' 18th-minute opening goal.

Centre backs Sergio Ramos and Pepe and fullbacks Danilo and Marcelo were so atrocious that the Wolfsburg quartet of Bruno, Arnold, Draxler and Schuerrle embarrassed them over and over again.

Real couldn't touch Wolfsburg when they retreated into their 4-5-1 defensive shell, and neither could they defend against the 4-2-3-1 system they seamlessly transformed into during their attacking sorties.

It was a sure recipe for disaster.

Wolfsburg's second goal in the 25th minute summed up Real's display.

Just before Draxler made the pass to set Bruno free on the right of the penalty box, Marcelo peered to his left and should have seen the free man, but decided to do nothing about it.

When the pass inevitably came, Marcelo jogged over with his hands behind his back, then turned away as Bruno crossed for Arnold to finish from close range.

Zidane, who stormed off into the players' tunnel at the final whistle, insisted that his team had not underestimated their opponents.

He had every reason to, after witnessing a performance so devoid of fight and character.

"It could be (because of) Saturday's game, physically we have suffered, above all in the first half," he said, pointing to the possibility of his players still being tired from their El Clasico exertions.

If that's really the case, then Zidane's game management can't escape criticism.

For it is the coach's job to be able to detect fatigue in his camp, and to devise a game plan that demands less from his players if that's the case.

The damage is already done.

And it might just get worse next week, unless they get their act together.

I was laughed at when I said we may have a chance. Real had their opportunities early on and we were a bit lucky. We pulled together, found the spaces and played very well. Now we will go to Madrid, knowing that we have a chance to advance.

The pair had a heated exchange in the tunnel after the game, and Hecking later revealed what he had said to the Brazilian.

"I told him to drop the acting," said Hecking. "He couldn't have complained if he'd been sent off for what he did.

"It annoyed me because it's something he doesn't need to do."

Marcelo fell to the ground dramatically after a clash with Arnold near to Hecking's dugout in the VW-Arena, and Arnold was shown the yellow card by Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi for his part in what became an argument between most of the players on the field.

The Germany international was more relaxed about it afterwards, and joked about what he had said to Marcelo as he writhed around in agony.